Mountain Times – Volume 49, Number 17 – April 22-28, 2020

26 • COLUMNS
The Mountain Times • April 22-28, 2020
McCormack:
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from page 7
But the question is more than economic.
Education is a social function.
A people educate its young. People
who run naked through the woods,
hunting their food with sharp sticks,
teach the next generation how to run
naked through the woods and hunt
food with sharp sticks. Of course,
the hunting with sticks analogy is
strained in America in 2020- computers,
complex science, complex everything,
but the principle remains.
And education is more than job
training. We’re a republic, and we
need citizens educated in our founding
and defining institutions. We are
inheritors of thousands of years of
civilization, and we owe it to future
generations to pass that heritage
on. Maintaining a society is often a
financial loser.
That’s the easy part. Saving our
state colleges will cost money. The
state raises money through taxes.
People don’t like taxes. Many things
have changed over my years in the
Senate. But the single most constant
message from the people, year in and
year out, has been this: “Taxes are too
high!” “You idiots in Montpelier are
driving people out of state with your
out of control spending!” If we want
to keep our state colleges open we
must embrace the whole picture, (1)
do it, (2) pay for it, and (3) raise the
taxes necessary to pay for it.
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Colleges, Jeb Spaulding,
also announced
last Friday a proposal
to close down three
campuses and eliminate
up to 500 positions due
to declining enrollment
and financial losses. The
proposal was met with
shock and dismay from
many areas of the state,
especially where the
campuses are located
(Johnson, Lyndon and
Randolph). The VSC
Board of Trustees met
Monday, April 20, to
discuss the proposal,
but was not expected to
take action (at least as of
this writing). Governor
Scott expressed concern
over the proposal, but
was unwilling to endorse
higher taxes to bail out
the state college system.
Public comments on
the proposal can be
posted at surveymonkey.
com/r/J8BRV5Z.
A review of the status
of the state’s K-12 Education
Fund last Thursday,
April 16, by the Senate
Finance and Education
Committees, projected
The legislature’s fiscal analysts estimated previous
projections of statewide education property tax
increases of 5-6 cents per hundred could balloon to 25
cents … [which] equates to $500 on a $200,000 home.
to 25 cents based on collective
locally approved
school budgets at last
month’s Town Meeting.
(This could change if the
federal government provides
additional funds
for lost revenue or school
budgets are reduced
over what was approved
by voters.) An increase of
25 cents equates to $500
on a $200,000 home.
Another area garnering
a lot of attention
these days is the unprecedented
backlog of
unemployment claims
at the VT Dept. of Labor.
Many Vermonters have
Harrison: Legislative review from the House. A lot is changing while meetings continue remotely
from page 7
a deficit of $150 million been trying unsuccessfully
Vermont unemploy-
in the coming year. The
for a month to put ment laws, employees
Legislature’s fiscal analysts
in a claim. Understand-
who refuse to return to
estimated previous ably, many are frustrat-
work will lose their UI
projections of statewide ed, angry and scared, as benefit.
education property tax they do not know when In the coming week,
increases of 5-6 cents per they will receive benefits. self-employed and independent
hundred could balloon In response, on Fri-
contractors
day, the governor made
the unprecedented
announcement that the
state would issue checks
to those still not able to
get their claim processed
by this past weekend,
and worry about settling
up later.
Some employers
who have tried to
rehire employees report
difficulty with some
employees preferring to
stay unemployed due
to the extra $600 per
week Uncle Sam has
promised to contribute
to their weekly claim.
But be aware that under
may be eligible for unemployment
benefits.
Normally, self-employed
(who do not pay into the
unemployment fund)
are not eligible for its
benefits. However, this
provision was added
as part of the federal
stimulus packaged that
Vermont is now working
to implement.
In addition to what
some private employers
are offering in premium
pay, the Vermont Senate
may consider a proposal
to give additional pay to
essential workers during
the Covid-19 pandemic.
Those being considered
eligible for the benefit
include grocery store
workers, pharmacy
workers, janitors, trash
collectors, child care
providers, and assisted
living and nursing home
caregivers. It is not clear
where the money for
extra pay would come
from.
In closing, let’s hope
that the number of
Covid cases continues
to decline and the spigot
can turn again soon.
Call 211 for additional
information on Covid-19
and assistance
options or visit: healthvermont.gov/covid19.
In the meantime, I
will do my best to keep
you informed via email
updates (to sign up visit
eepurl.com/gbxzuz)
or my Facebook page
(facebook.com/harrisonforvermont).
Jim Harrison is the
state representative for
Bridgewater, Chittenden,
Killington and Mendon.
He can be reached at JHarrison@leg.state.vt.us.
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>
Ralph: House of Representatives adapt to “new normal”
from page 7
vides affordable higher education to our as a result the Legislature will continue
most rural parts of the state, and over 500 to meet until Aug/Sept. You can see the
good union jobs. The loss of these institutions
entire April 14, 2020 fiscal note on this
to our state would be incalculable. website. ljfo.vermont.gov/assets/Sub-
I am pleased to say that pressure from jects/General-Updates/5974c1f31b/
many individuals, the General Assembly, GENERAL-347645-v3-April_14_update.
and the governor was successful in getting
pdf
the VSC board to postpone their vote The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)
until next week. I support the Legislature We learned on Friday that the federal
providing gap funding to the VSCs to keep Paycheck Protection Program, which
them operational for the next year, but the authorized up to $349 billion in forgivable
underlying fiscal and enrollment challenges
loans to small businesses to pay their
facing these institutions needs to employees during the Covid-19 crisis,
be addressed to guarantee the long-term has run out of funds. Vermont had over
viability of these essential institutions. 4,000 applying to the program and was
Budget
approved for $853 million. Vermont is
The pandemic has put a strain on ranked third per capita in funds approved.
many people’s pocket books. Vermont has
not been immune from these impacts. We anticipate that Congress will approve
Here is a fiscal note from our Joint Fiscal
another round of funding for this
Office in regards to our state revenues. program this week. Small businesses who
“Our revenue expectations have would like to apply for this forgivable loan
remained relatively constant for the past should start gathering information and
two weeks […] For now, if deferred taxes payroll documents for the application
are allocated to the fiscal year they were now.
due, the FY 2020 shortfalls from the January
You can apply through any existing
estimates are:
Small Business Administration (SBA)
• General Fund down $61 million lender or through any federally insured
• Education Fund down $150 million depository institution, federally insured
• Transportation Fund down $40 credit union, and Farm Credit System
million”
institution that is participating. Visit
Given the uncertainties of federal sba.gov for a list of SBA lenders.
funds and available revenues, as well as Zachariah Ralph is a state representative
the still developing pandemic it is likely
for Hartland, Windsor, and West
that the full Fiscal Year 2021 budget cannot
Windsor. He can be reached at Zralph@leg.
be completed until Aug/Sept, and so
state.vt.us.